The Defenders (2018 film)
The Defenders is an upcoming 2018 superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics characters The Defenders, produced by Marvel Studios, WWE Studios, and Gary Sanchez Productions and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the twenty-third installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film will be directed by Adam McKay and stars Neko Cortez, Charlie Cox, Krysten Ritter, Mike Colter, Finn Jones, Eddie Redmayne, Lou Jackson, and Keanu Reeves. The Defenders will be released on September 14 2018 in 3D and IMAX 3D. PLOT Set before the events of Avengers: Infinity War, Frank Castle and his team of recruited members (consisting of Daredevil, Ashwood, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, etc.) team up to fight Hive's army, including Krauge and Kingpin. Mid-Credit Scene: Krauge's corpse is seen washing up on the beaches of Haeundae. As people approach him, Krauge's eyes open, meaning he has survived The Meddler's Deadly Tsunami, and the screen cuts to black as the sounds of Krauge's roar and people screaming are heard. Post-Credit Scene: Riley Hendrix is transferred from NYPFIC (New York Prison for inhuman criminals) to the NYPD Department for further questioning, when Jimmy Weeks, Howard Saint, Captain Ross, Kate Collins, and several NYPD officers suddenly disintegrate (due to the ending of Avengers: Infinity War). Molly Von Richtofen tries to call Frank Castle to warn him and The Defenders of what's going on, but she too is disintegrated. Seeing this as a distraction, Hendrix frees himself with his powers and goes to meet with Alvin Mirage to activate the Inhuman Giants. CAST The Defenders: *Neko Cortez as Frank Castle / The Punisher: **A vigilante, co-founder of The Defenders, and former Avenger who aims to clean up any city by any means necessary, no matter how lethal the results. **Levil Miller will reprise his role as a younger Frank Castle in flashback scenes. *Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock / Daredevil: **A blind lawyer in Hell's Kitchen and childhood friend of Castle with his four remaining senses enhanced who is secretly the vigilante Daredevil. *Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones: **A private investigator, former superhero, and love interest of Castle suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder who opens her own detective agency, Alias Investigations. *Mike Colter as Luke Cage: **A former convict at Seagate Prison with superhuman strength and unbreakable skin who now fights crime in Harlem. *Lou Jackson as Kyle Dash / Ashwood: **A multi-powered mutant with the abilities of superspeed, high jumping, duplication, and night vision. *Finn Jones as Danny Rand / Iron Fist: **A billionaire Buddhist monk, co-CECO of Rand Enterprises, and martial arts expert with the ability to call upon the mystical power of the Iron Fist. *Josh Hutcherson as Charlie Dyme / X: **An army veteran who dedicates himself to protecting Philadelphia from its criminal underworld as a masked vigilante hailed as the "X" at night. *Cherami Leigh as Laura Brisky / Nightwatcher: **A bounty hunter and Charlie's girlfriend. *Eddie Redmayne as Tom Smith / Blackbird: **A businessman at Smith Co. with electromechanical suits to fight crime in Manhattan after a plane crash that traumatized his life and causing him to lose both of his arms, which were replaced with electromechanical arms. *Selena Gomez as Laurel Viper: **An inhuman with snake-like abilities and ally of Blackbird and Castle. Gomez reprises her role from Marvel's Blackbird. *Norman Reedus as Johnny Blaze / Ghost Rider: **A motorcycle stuntman who sold his soul to a demon and become a vengeful fiery spirit that feeds on the evil of his victims. *Craig Robinson as Nolan Cross / Slingshot: **An assassin who formerly worked for Mirage and is now Blackbird's Ally and friend with superhuman strength and skilled sniper abilities. *John Boyega as Terrence Jackson / Heatwave: **An inhuman taking disguise as a NYPD Police Officer and an Ally of Blackbird who can manipulate fire. *Ewan McGregor as Noah Stryker / Steel Shadow: **The Guardian Of Athenia with the abilities of flight, accelerated healing, metallic skin, and superhuman strength. *CM Punk as Ryan Stone / The Meddler: **The ruler of Concordia whos abilities include manipulation of sea life, Water adapted superhuman strength, swimming at incredible speeds, long distance jumping, and accelerated healing. *Joey King as Julie Power / Lightspeed: **A high school student and classmate of Peter Parker with the abilities of acceleration, flight, and healing powers. *Milana Vayntrub as Doreen Green / Squirrel Girl: **A resident of New York City and Ashwood's love interest with the ability to communicate with Squirrels, which help her defeat many supervillains. Vayntrub reprises her role from Marvel's New Warriors. *Jeff Hardy as Kurt Laurence / Crush: **A Concordian warrior and close friend of Ryan Stone disguised as an NYPD Police Officer who can manipulate water and waves to attack his enemies as well as having the same abilities as The Meddler. *Aubrey Joseph as Tyrone Johnson / Cloak: **A teenager with the ability to engulf others in darkness. Joseph reprises his role from Cloak & Dagger. *Olivia Holt as Tandy Bowen / Dagger: **A teenager with the ability to emit light daggers. Holt reprises her role from Cloak & Dagger. *Shinsuke Nakamura as Hibyro Takashi / Restrepo: **A master martial artist residing in Tokyo, Japan and close friend of Iron Fist with the abilities of causing shockwaves from his sword, as well as superhuman strength and accelerated healing. *Chiaki Kuriyama as Toho Kuromisha / Lightwave: **A martial artist residing in Tokyo, Japan and Restrepo's partner who can release shockwaves from her katanas. *Finn Balor as Marc Spector / Moon Knight: **A skilled martial artist, weapons expert, and expert detective working for the NYPD. *Jon Bernthal as Harry Dawson / Slipknot: **A former ally of Punisher and Mirage who works as a dangerous vigilante who aims to clean up Hell's Kitchen by any means necessary, no matter how lethal the results. Villains: *Keanu Reeves as Hive: **An inhuman overlord and Mirage's father who was an experiment made to embody the ideals of Hydra. *Jason Ritter as Alvin Mirage / The Interrogator: **A bounty hunter who keeps a collection of belongings and evidence from various vigilantes, mainly from The Punisher and Daredevil. *Elodie Yung as Elektra Natchois: **A mysterious and dangerous woman from Murdock's past, who is the Black Sky, a weapon of Hive. *Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin: **A former powerful businessman now working for Hive whose interests in Hell's Kitchen brought him into conflict with Murdock and Castle. *Brett Dalton as Grant Ward / Krauge: **A humanoid sea creature and Meddler's arch-nemesis with superhuman strength and regenerated healing. Dalton reprises his role from previous MCU Media. Unlike previous incarnations of Krauge, this Krauge is portrayed as Grant Ward, who before becoming Krauge, was a Hydra Agent posing as a SHIELD Black Ops Specialist. **Steven Blum as Krauge (voice) **Dee Bradley Baker as Krauge (voice, vocal effects) *Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson / Firewall: **An inhuman working for Mirage with special sniping skills as well as the ability to manipulate telekinesis and was once Murdock's friend and lawyer partner. *Jason Bateman as Riley Hendrix / Tick-Tock: **An unpredictable assassin and former NYPD Officer working for Mirage. *Chloe Bennet as Daisy Johnson-Mirage / Quake: **An inhuman hacktivist, bounty hunter, Mirage's daughter, and former SHIELD Recruit / Agent with the ability to sense vibrations and create earthquakes. *Paul Wight as Nikolai Zahkarov / Man Of Stone: **A former Russian General and Mirage's friend / bodyguard / weapons specialist with superhuman strength and unbreakable skin who is revealed the leader of the 6 deadly prophecised inhuman giants made by Mirage. *Randy Orton as Harold Luthor / Sinestro: **An inhuman crime boss who can manipulate and master the 4 elements of Earth (water, earth, fire, and air). *Dalip Singh as Zarko Makarov: **A strongman assassin and former boxer who serves as Riley's bodyguard and is revealed to be one of the 6 deadly prophecised inhuman giants made by Mirage. *Braun Strowman as Angelo: **The strongman former bodyguard of Ludo Crane who is revealed to be one of the 6 deadly prophecised inhuman giants made by Mirage. *Mark Henry as Paul Budiansky: **A former NYPD Officer presumed dead who is revealed to be one of the 6 deadly prophecised inhuman giants made by Mirage. *Lars Sullivan as Kakiko Murokashi / SlingBlade: **A Japanese-American strongman boxer who is revealed to be one of the 6 deadly prophecised inhuman giants made by Mirage. *Babatunde Aiyegbusi as Yzma Mikalekk / Goldeath: **A Polish strongman and former sumo wrestler who is revealed to be one of the 6 deadly prophecised inhuman giants made by Mirage. Allies / Other: *Kristen Wiig as Lt. Molly Von Richtofen: **A talented investigator of the NYPD, co-founder of The Defenders, and close ally of The Punisher. *Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple: **Cage's lover and a former nurse who gives medical aid to vigilantes. *Eka Darville as Malcolm Ducasse: **Jones' neighbor and assistant at Alias Investigations. *Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing: **A former member of The Hand, Rand's lover, and the owner of a New York City dojo. *Simone Missick as Misty Knight: **A Harlem police dtective who is Cage's ally and an old friend of Castle. *Ramon Rodriguez as Bakuto: **A leader of a faction of The Hand and Wing's sensei. *Sigourney Weaver as Alexandra King / Queen Leera: **The Queen of Concordia who is disguised as the head of an ancient organization and Meddler's mother who can create and manipulate waterquakes. *Rachel Taylor as Trish Walker: **Jones' adoptive sister and best friend who hosts her own radio talk show. *Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page: **Murdock's former secretary and a burgeoning newspaper reporter. *Doug Walker as Jimmy Weeks: **An NYPD detective, part-time FBI Agent, friend of Castle, and assistant to Richtofen. *John Goodman as Howard Saint: **The head of the NYPD, the main founder of The Defenders, and ally of The Punisher. *Jeff Goldblum as Sam Harris: **Charlie's uncle and an NYPD Officer who allies with The Defenders and his nephew. This is Goldblum's 2nd role in the MCU, the first being The Grandmaster from Thor: Ragnarok. *Steve Austin as Sgt. Nicholas Walker: **An army sergeant and founder of the New York Prison for the inhuman criminals who is dedicated to hunting down any inhuman criminal. *Ethan Hawke as Detective Martin Soap: **A detective / police officer of the NYPD and ally of The Punisher. *Kate Micucci as Detective Laura Hoskins: **A detective / police officer of the NYPD and girlfriend of Martin. *Scott Glenn as Stick: **Murdock's mentor and leader of The Chaste who wages a war against Hive's army. *Wai Ching Ho as Gao: **An accomplished woman and former ally of Wilson Fisk with her own heroin trade in Hell's Kitchen who has connections with Hive. *James Saito as Dr. Bernard Sanjo: **Tyrone's unusual friend who is an emotional cornerstone in his life and has had a history with Mirage. *Rob Morgan as Turk Barrett: **A low-level criminal and former ally of Mirage. *Dan Green as Dr. Peter Alraune: **An doctor / archaeologist and friend of Spector. *Lucy Liu as Shuko Masajima: **A skilled and legendary expert martial artist and master of Restrepo and Lightwave. *Uzo Aduba as Charlie Solomon: **A former partner of Frank Castle Sr. currently working as a staff member of the New York prison for the inhuman criminals. *Shane McMahon as Kyle Richmond: **An NYPD Officer who formerly worked for Mirage. *Colin Firth as Sheriff Jack Hunt: **The warden of a New York Prison for the inhuman criminals and close friend of Charlie Dyme. Additionally, David Tennant, Alfre Woodard, Theo Rossi, Marion Cotillard, Carrie-Anne Moss, Max Von Sydow, Bobby Moynihan, Andrea Roth, Gloria Reuben, Miles Mussenden, Peter McRobbie, Susan Varon, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Vince McMahon, Will Ferrell, and Leonardo DiCaprio reprise their roles as Kilgrave, Mariah Dillard, Hernan Alvarez / Shades, Ma Gnucci, Jeri Hogarth, T. Harold, Mike Lynch, Melissa Bowen, Adina Johnson, Otis Johnson, Lantom, Josie, Captain Ross, NYPD Detective Kate Collins, Judge Hawthorne, Billy Russo / Jigsaw, and Frank Castle Sr. / Punisher in cameos. Marko Zaror appears as Shaft, a member of The Chaste and former ally of Mirage. J Mallory McCree, Babs Olusanmokun, Yutaka Takeuchi, Johnny Yong Bosch, and Taylor Gray portray Cole Miller / Shieldwidth, Sowande, Murakami, Helok, and Primeape, Hive's five inhuman apocatles. Michelle Federer portrays Michelle Raymond, a woman who approaches Jones and Castle about her missing husband, while Chloe Levine portrays Lexi Raymond, the daughter of John and Michelle Raymond, and Ron Simons portrays Strieber, Knight's police captain. Debbi Morgan plays Delores Miller, Cole's mother who is unaware of his association with Hive. Brittany Karbowski portrays Marci Stahl, a fellow lawyer and ex-girlfriend of Foggy Nelson. Nichole Yannetty portrays Nicole, an intern at Walker's talk show. Rowan Atkinson portrays John Raymond, an architect who gets involved with Mirage, and is investigated by The Defenders. Nia Jax appears as Shauna Mirage, wife of Alvin Mirage who has supported everything he did. The Aeolus Quartet cameo as themselves, performing Johannes Brahms' First String Quartet for Mirage. Marvel co-creator Stan Lee makes a cameo as a janitor at the New York Prison for the inhuman criminals. Steven Universe ''creator Rebecca Sugar cameos as Dr. Alraune's assistant, and Ariana Grande cameos as a bartender of an Edinburgh pub. Luci Christian and Justin Briner appear as an NYPD Officer couple confronted by Krauge about The Defenders' whereabouts. Finn Wolfhard, Amy Dunmas, and Adam Copeland reprise their roles as Ross McKenneth, Jane McKenneth (Ross's aunt), and Lewis McKenneth (Ross's uncle), from Season 2 of ''Marvel's X, in the post-credit scene. PRODUCTION Filming began in May 2017, and was filmed back-to-back with Avengers: Infinity War ''and it's currently untitled sequel. Filming ended in December 2017. Danny Elfman, who scored ''Marvel's The Punisher, provides the film's score, while The Who's Baba O'Riley serves as the main theme of the movie. The ending credits animation will be made by Studio Trigger (Little Witch Academia, Kill La Kill). This is the second time a guest animation studio made the end credits for a Marvel film, the first being Production I.G. for Marvel's The Punisher's ''end ''credits. MARKETING The first trailer was shown during Marvel's panel at Comic Con 2017, and was released online a day later.